Guidelines for authorship

Abstract

Three of the senior editors have undertaken a process to consider and improve the system of attribution of credit and responsibility inherent in the authorship of scientific articles published in The Journal of Arthroplasty. This process has included careful considerations of the issues and available options and has encouraged input from the entire editorial board. It also included a thorough review of the available literature on this topic. The problem of authorship and related issues of integrity has been widely discussed in a variety of editorials and scientific publications including The Journal of The American Medical Association, The British Medical Journal, The Lancet, and other publications.The impetus for this study has been the observation that there is a widespread trend toward more authors, more “senior” authors, and misapplication of authorship at levels as high as 25%.A consensus of the editorial board has developed the following guidelines specific to authorship that we hope will be useful to authors and will improve the quality of the manuscripts considered:1.Each author is responsible for the content and accuracy of the entire manuscript, with the exception of students, residents, and fellows. Each author should participate in the content and design of the study, the preparation of the manuscript and its revisions, and final approval.2.“Gift authors” and “ghostwriters” should be excluded.3.A maximum of 6 authors will be allowed.4.Other individuals who contribute effort to the process should be identified as “contributors” and acknowledged at the end of the manuscript together with their contribution.5.The order and inclusion should be decided by consensus among the authors themselves and acknowledged in writing.6.In-text citations should include the first and second authors' names.7.The authors should clearly indicate the predominant surgeon or surgeons who have contributed patients. Contributing patients is not sufficient in and of itself to merit authorship.8.Adherence to these policies will be encouraged but voluntary.It is our hope that these modifications will be taken in a positive spirit and help authors to achieve the goals we would all find laudatory. Three of the senior editors have undertaken a process to consider and improve the system of attribution of credit and responsibility inherent in the authorship of scientific articles published in The Journal of Arthroplasty. This process has included careful considerations of the issues and available options and has encouraged input from the entire editorial board. It also included a thorough review of the available literature on this topic. The problem of authorship and related issues of integrity has been widely discussed in a variety of editorials and scientific publications including The Journal of The American Medical Association, The British Medical Journal, The Lancet, and other publications. The impetus for this study has been the observation that there is a widespread trend toward more authors, more “senior” authors, and misapplication of authorship at levels as high as 25%. A consensus of the editorial board has developed the following guidelines specific to authorship that we hope will be useful to authors and will improve the quality of the manuscripts considered:1.Each author is responsible for the content and accuracy of the entire manuscript, with the exception of students, residents, and fellows. Each author should participate in the content and design of the study, the preparation of the manuscript and its revisions, and final approval.2.“Gift authors” and “ghostwriters” should be excluded.3.A maximum of 6 authors will be allowed.4.Other individuals who contribute effort to the process should be identified as “contributors” and acknowledged at the end of the manuscript together with their contribution.5.The order and inclusion should be decided by consensus among the authors themselves and acknowledged in writing.6.In-text citations should include the first and second authors' names.7.The authors should clearly indicate the predominant surgeon or surgeons who have contributed patients. Contributing patients is not sufficient in and of itself to merit authorship.8.Adherence to these policies will be encouraged but voluntary. It is our hope that these modifications will be taken in a positive spirit and help authors to achieve the goals we would all find laudatory.